Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday that ordered the U.S. Department of Justice to suspend prosecutions accused of bribery in order for foreign government officials to acquire business.
The order directs U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondy to suspend prosecutions under the Foreign Corruption Practices Act of 1977 until it issues revised enforcement guidance to promote America’s competitiveness.
“Future FCPA investigations and enforcement actions must be governed by this new guidance and approved by the Attorney General,” the document states.
According to the White House, the law places US companies at a disadvantage against foreign competitors. Because they cannot engage in practices that “create a common and uneven playing field among international competitors.”
“American national security has earned strategic commercial advantages for the US and its companies all over the world, and President Trump has stopped the overly unpredictable FCPA enforcement that will degrade American companies’ competitiveness. “We’re doing that,” according to a copy of the White House fact sheet seen by Reuters.
Anti-Corruption Watchdog Transparency International said the FCPA has made the United States a leader in dealing with global corruption.
Trump’s executive order “may open up ways to reduce and completely eliminate crown jewels in the US’s battle against global corruption,” states Gary Kalman, executive director of Transparency International US. stated in.
The anti-bridal law has been responsible for some of the Department of Justice’s biggest corporate cases in the past decade, including punishing investment bank Goldman Sachs for allegedly looting Malaysian sovereign wealth funds.
Trump signed the order in an oval office in front of the reporter. “That would mean more business for America,” he said.
In 2024, the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission filed 26 FCPA-related enforcement actions, with at least 31 companies under investigation by the end of the year, according to the White House fact sheet.
The president also said he is issuing a pardon for former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich.
Blagojevich was convicted in 2011 for attempting to sell Barack Obama’s US Senate seat and other corrupt practices.
Blagojevich, who appeared on Trump’s reality television show “Celebrity Apprentice,” served eight years in prison before Trump shortened his term in 2020.
Reuters contributed to this report
